The high cost, diminishing supply and environmental impact of fossil fuels continues to promote interest in solar energy and other alternative clean energy sources. Solar energy has been used to heat water for use in homes and businesses for many years. Likewise, direct conversion of solar energy to electricity has been used for many years for satellites and spacecraft. But, these existing solar energy systems typically have low thermal efficiencies, require large installation areas and/or require expensive components. As a result, systems to efficiently and cost effectively convert solar energy to electricity are not available to the general public.
Accordingly, there is a need for a more efficient and economical system to generate electricity from solar energy.